A judge has denied a family's attempt to sue Lebanon on allegations that the country's security agency kidnapped and tortured their family member Amer Fakhoury before he died in the U.S., and that the agency could not intervene in the case.

Fakhoury, a Lebanese American man, died in the United States in August 2020 at age 57 from stage 4 lymphoma. His family's lawsuit, filed in Washington last year against Iran, says he developed the illness and other serious medical issues while imprisoned during a visit to Lebanon over decades-old murder and torture charges that he denied.

With a message that blends Christianity, motherhood and patriotism, Giorgia Meloni is riding a wave of popularity that next month could see her become Italy's first female prime minister and its first far-right leader since World War II.

Even though her Brothers of Italy party has neo-fascist roots, Meloni has sought to dispel concerns about its legacy, saying voters have grown tired of such discussions.

The United States and South Korea will begin their biggest combined military training in years next week in the face of an increasingly aggressive North Korea, which has been ramping up weapons tests and threats of nuclear conflict against Seoul and Washington, the South's military said Tuesday.

The allies' summertime drills, which will take place from Aug. 22 to Sept. 1 in South Korea under the name of Ulchi Freedom Shield, will include field exercises involving aircraft, warships, tanks and potentially tens of thousands of troops.

Iran said Tuesday it submitted a "written response" to what has been described as a final roadmap to restore its tattered nuclear deal with world powers.

Iran's state-run IRNA news agency offered no details on the substance of its response, but suggested that Tehran still wouldn't take the European Union-mediated proposal, despite warnings there would be no more negotiations.

Anne Heche, the Emmy-winning film and television actor whose dramatic Hollywood rise in the 1990s and accomplished career contrasted with personal chapters of turmoil, died of injuries from a fiery car crash. She was 53.

Heche was "peacefully taken off life support," spokeswoman Holly Baird said in a statement Sunday night.

German officials expressed mounting anger Monday at the slow flow of information from Poland about a polluted border river as experts raced to discover what killed tens of thousands of fish.

German Environment Minister Steffi Lemke demanded a transparent and full investigation into the cause for the massive fish die-off in the Oder River after having met her Polish counterpart in Szczecin on Sunday evening.

Aston Villa defender Diego Carlos is set for a long spell out after rupturing his Achilles tendon.

The Brazilian center back will require surgery, the Premier League club said Monday, and then will begin a rehab program.

Serena Williams' opening match in the Western & Southern Open has been rescheduled from Monday to Tuesday.

The 40-year-old Williams, preparing to retire, is set to face 19-year-old Emma Raducanu, the defending U.S. Open champion. A spokesman for the tournament said the change was "on account of a number of factors related to scheduling."

Germans are facing a new tax on natural gas use that could cost the average household several hundred euros a year and is aimed at rescuing importers slammed by Russian cutbacks tied to the war in Ukraine.

An association of gas pipeline operators on Monday set the level at 2.4 euro cents per kilowatt hour under legislation passed by the German parliament, which had an expected range of 1 to 5 cents. The tax on gas that is used to heat homes in winter and generate electricity is set to take effect in October and run through the beginning of April. It will not show up in utility bills until November or December.

At least three Ukrainian civilians have been killed and nearly 20 others wounded in the latest artillery barrages from the Russian military, Ukrainian officials said Monday.

The eastern region of Donetsk, one of the two provinces making up the country's industrial heartland of Donbas that has been the focus of a Russian offensive, has faced the most intense shelling.